Pedro

On the evening of Sunday, April 15th, three bald eagles were found in a Salem County farm field, but all was not right. They did not fly away when approached, and two could barely stand upright. With night falling, several rescuers scrambled to get to them, including Dr. Erica Miller and Eagle Project volunteer John Fox. It turns out the eagles had scavenged on a dead fox that had died from poisoning. The eagles were suffering from secondary poisoning and could die without quick treatment. Dr. Miller got to the site to assist with the capture of all three birds, and administered treatment to counteract the effects. All three were held for treatment and recovery at Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research in Newark, DE. One would not make it, but two did survive.

"Pedro" is one of the survivors. As a four year old bald eagle, he has a mostly white head, but still has a mix of brown feathers in his head and tail. He has also beaten the odds by making it to four years old, and thus makes a great candidate for a satellite tag to track his habitat use in south Jersey.

On Sunday, April 29th, two weeks after he nearly died, bald eagle E/62 was released from the field behind Tri-State in Delaware. Nicknamed "Pedro" (for his "hometown" of Pedricktown), he flew beautifully back into the wild. About one day after release, he had crossed the Delaware River, back into Salem County, back home.

The data portrayed on this web site are owned by the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife, Endangered & Nongame Species Program, and may not be used for any type of publication without written permission of this agency. Contact Kathy Clark with any inquiries.